Retail selling of gasoline and other vehicle fuels is a major industry throughout the world. By one reason recent estimate, there are on the order of 200,000 retail fuel service stations in the United States alone.
Such stations are referred to as either "full service" stations or "self service" stations, depending on whether a station employee or the customer himself is responsible for manipulating the pump, fuel hose, and valve structure into position for fueling the vehicle. In either case, however, substantial human activity is required by a person outside the vehicle in order to accomplish the fueling of the vehicle fuel tank.
The tremendous rise in the number of self-service stations in recent years has been one of very few significant changes in the methods of operating fuel stations. Many customers, particularly women drivers, are very reluctant to exit their vehicles and put themselves through the trouble of manipulating the hose and nozzle to fill their tanks. But many people, often the same people, are equally reluctant to pay the added costs of a full-service station.
In view of the extremely high volume of retail fuel sales, the high costs of providing full service, and the inconvenience for a customer of all the manipulative steps necessary for vehicle fueling, a need exists for improved fueling station methods and apparatus. A need also exists for improved safety in the operation of fueling stations.
A number of attempts have been made in the prior art to improve fueling procedures in the retail vehicle fueling industry. Some examples include the disclosures of the following U.S. patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,079,960 (Mays) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,095,020 (Darwin) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,364,940 (Ginsburgh et al.) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,410,320 (Ginsburgh et al.) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,502,117 (Nebelsiek et al.) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,527,268 (Ginsburgh) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,530,906 (Ginsburgh et al.) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,109 (Ginsburgh et al.) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,642,036 (Ginsburgh et al.) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,945 (Van Ness).
These patents describe various methods and types of apparatus for facilitating fueling, and for automatic fueling using overhead, on-ground or below-ground equipment. The Ginsburgh et al. patents describe in great detail an automatic overhead fueling system.
Each of the prior disclosures of automatic fueling apparatus and methods has substantial inherent practical problems. The apparatus in some cases is far too complex and costly. In some cases, the basic concepts for engaging fueling lines with the vehicle fuel tanks are impractical. One prior system undertakes the task of identifying vehicle types in order to locate and properly engage the fueling inlets on the hundreds if not thousands of kinds of vehicles. The practical technical problems encountered in such an undertaking are enormous, and such systems have not been successful.
It suffices to note here that a need exists for improved practical automatic vehicle fueling equipment and methods.